Tag Archives: Paris

I believe our relationship began March 2006. I was slightly dubious at first but after a bit of prodding and convincing (it didn’t take much) I decided to give it a shot – Facebook. For the most part the pros have outweighed the cons but recent events have started to make me question how much value it brings to my life.

There’s no doubt that I’m enamoured with Facebook. If I have a spare moment it’s easy to open up the app and have a quick glance to see what my friends are up to. Well, not just my friends, even people I haven’t spoken to in the last 5 years. There’s really no need to keep have such a wide network of people but I keep them around because at one point they did bring some value into my life and those who know me can attest that it’s not easy for me to throw things away. I’m cursed with being a pack-rat, I keep unnecessary things around and I’m now realizing that doesn’t just refer to physical objects. I don’t even want to think about what percentage of my day is devoted to facing that familiar ‘f’ icon.

But it’s time to re-evaluate things. Facebook is a powerful being and people are very influenced by its presence. When the Paris terrorist attacks happened Friday November 13th, Facebook was quick to offer a French tricolour filter that people could put over their profile picture.

Where are the rest of my filter options?

A way to show solidarity and to show that we are one with Paris, we stand behind you. A nice sentiment indeed, but what about the Lebanese filter I would’ve liked to put on to show my sympathies towards the terrorist attack that occurred in Beirut just THE DAY BEFORE?? There is an obvious first world bias that Facebook has where France, it appears, is more deserving of an appeal than any other country where crimes against humanity are happening. I’m not saying the filter is completely irrelevant. There are people who have a personal relationship with the people/city/country but what I’m against is that no other options have been presented to society and I feel there’s a bit of mind manipulation going on that I don’t want to be a part of. The fact that Facebook is offering ONLY the French flag belittles the other travesties in the world. I don’t see any authentic altruism in offering a French filter flag, I see that they chose an event that the media really focused on and capitalized on what would be a popular trend of the day. I know Facebook is not the only one to blame here. I know that the media reports events, and outlets choose which are deemed to be higher priority. I do wish that there was more evenly distributed representation of news items because we as society are influenced by what is presented to us, so as media outlets that distribute information it’s YOUR responsibility to help us overcome ignorance and to gain wider awareness of what’s going on in the world.

So Facebook, for now I’m saying goodbye. Because right now every time I go on and see that specialized filter a spark of rage ignites within me and I don’t need that in my life right now. I’m sure I’ll be back…I can never stay away for long and I’m actually quite sure you’ll find a way to seduce me back into your clutches. I’m not off of social media completely. You can still find me on Twitter and Instagram but for now I just want to follow my selected newsfeeds that have yet to be manipulated.

I’m a humanist. All lives matter. I believe in action over prayer. #actionforpeace
Ciao, I’m out.